Saturday, January 21, 2012

Smile!!

On the way home from work this afternoon I couldn't decide what to listen to, so I put my iPod on shuffle.  After System of a Down ("Chop Suey") and Train ("If It's Love") had their way with me Counting Crows took a shot with "Long December".  Naturally, I burst into tears.  It's just one of those songs.  That got me to thinking about the songs that have that effect on me and why.  Some of the reasons I can pinpoint, some of them are more vague, none of them are anything I want to talk about.

So, I decided to share with you some music that makes me smile.  Every. Single. Time.  There are just some songs, some voices, some combinations of song and voice that just make my heart a little lighter when they pop out of my speakers.  These songs aren't necessarily associated with some great event in my life, some of them don't even make any sense, but all of them work for me.

"Mercy" - Matt Nathanson - Modern Love
I love the shit out of this song.  Then again, I love this entire record (hell, I love every single thing I've ever heard him sing), but that isn't enough for this list.  I love "Kiss Quick" more than this one, but that one doesn't make me break out in a full face silly-ass grin every time it comes on.  I'm not 100% certain why it does that to me, but I think maybe it's because it's the first song I ever heard him play live (and he opened with it again in Nashville) so it transports me back there a little bit every time.  Here, see if it makes you smile too (I'm sure it will):



"Waste" - Aaron Tap - Bronchitis
I found this song via Aaron Tap's blog.  I fucking love this song so much I can't even tell you, but my favorite part is the guitar playing.  Holy shit.  I would love more than anything to watch him play this one live.  I just want to watch the guitar magic happen (it fascinates me if you haven't noticed...probably because I don't know how to do it).  Plus the lyrics are so clever and unique, I mean, he uses the words "cupidity" and "hasten" in a song...it is not possible not to love that.  Anyway, even if you never take any of my suggestions and if you think I'm totally full of shit, please just click this link and listen to this song - you will not regret it.  Then, if you're ever at a Matt Nathanson concert with me (like, in Louisville in February for instance) yell this song out until you're blue in the face and maybe we'll get Aaron to play it!

"In Light of Your Less Complicated Life" - The Paula Kelley Orchestra - Airports EP
Honestly, just hearing her voice makes me smile, but I love this song in particular.  I think because I understand that I got extremely lucky in finding my husband with his ability to really, really know me and still love me and this song just makes me appreciate it all that much more.  Besides her voice, this song has horns and piano and a brilliant arrangement.  Just awesome.  Here, you can listen to it on Soundcloud.

"Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
Honestly, I think this one speaks for itself.  How could the opportunity to sing "fuck you" repeatedly for three and half minutes not make you smile??

"Steal My Sunshine" - Len
The summer that this song came out, I hated it.  Hated it I tell you!  I tried to avoid it which was completely impossible because every radio station and music channel on earth played the shit out of it.  About a year after it came out, I finally gave it.  It was firmly embedded in my brain, I finally learned the words, and now I love it.  Sure, it's super tacky and probably not a very good song, but that doesn't stop me from busting out a big old smile and cranking it up when it comes on.

"Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
If the opening to this song doesn't make you perk up, crack a smile and prepare to clap out the drum beats - you are dead inside.

"Get Gone" - White Arrows - Get Gone
This is one I found through my "New Music Mondays" adventures.  I'm not sure exactly what it is about this song.  It's not the normal kind of sound that I'm drawn to.  It's too techno sounding or something, but love is blind (and deaf, apparently) and I love this song.  The vocal is unique, the lyrics are catchy and it makes me smile and that's enough for me.

"New Age Girl" - Deadeye Dick - New Age Girl EP
This song is made of awesome. It contains the word "septuagenarians"and the line "she don't eat meat but she sure likes the bone!" Tell the truth, it's your favorite song now, right? Check it:

No comments:

Post a Comment